Alison Phinney, PhD, RN
Alison is a professor in the School of Nursing and co-director of the Centre for Research on Personhood in Dementia. Using qualitative participatory methods, she has advanced understanding of the lived experience of dementia – the impact of cognitive impairment on everyday life, people’s involvement in meaningful activity, and the role of families and communities in supporting them. Her research takes a broad view of health to identify the capacities of older people for successfully coping with the functional consequences of aging and disease. She is exploring what can be done in partnership with families and communities to support the health and well-being of older people both within and outside the traditional health care system. Much of her work has focused on people who are living with neurocognitive impairment (e.g. Alzheimer disease). Using qualitative methods, she has advanced understanding of how people with dementia and their families experience the impact of cognitive impairment on everyday life, how people with dementia cope through involvement in meaningful activity, and the role that families and communities play in supporting them. Her current research takes a community-engaged participatory approach to address issues of social citizenship in dementia, promoting inclusion and reducing stigma.
Keywords: dementia, social citizenship, community-engaged research, meaningful activity, arts and health, participatory action, asset-based community development, dementia friendly communities, qualitative methods, integrated knowledge translation
Email: alison.phinney@ubc.ca